This is a portable reloading bench I I made using a a Keter folding worktable. It’s what makes this so neat – it folds super quick and is very sturdy. In the video, I’m mounting a Hornady single stage press with 5/16″ nuts and bolts. The other side with the 4 bolts is set up for my Dillon 550 using 1/4″ bolts.
The top itself is made from two pieces of 3/4″ birch plywood I had laying around. I cut them to the same size and glued them together to make the top 1.5″ thick. I suppose you could use a single thickness of plywood, but I like the extra stiffness the thicker top provides. The overall size is 2′x3′ which is just slightly larger than the Keter’s top surface. I didn’t measure the holes I drilled for the hold-down clamps – I want to say I used a 2.25″ forstner bit and then elongated the initial hole to give me more positioning flexibility with a 1″ bit. You could just as easily cut the hole with a jig saw using a outlet cover as a template. I just improvised it. To keep small items like primers and bullets from rolling off, I had some leftover 1/4″ thick molding that I glued down around the front edge of the table.
After marking the position of the reloading press’ mounting holes, I drilled a counterbore into the top deep enough to hold a nut and washer. For each hole, I used one bolt, one nut, and two washers. Slip on a washer, the push the bolt through from the bottom, then drop down another washer and finally a nut and tighten it down. Since the washer and nut sit in a counterbore, the press can sit flush with the surface. Now that I think about it, I should counterbore the bottom also so the hex head can sit flush with the surface as well. For mounting the press, get matching wing nuts and fender washers or regular washers.
The whole thing came together as an improvisation, so it’s not like I had plans. It really isn’t that hard. After the top was glued together, I just winged it. I’ll probably use some more scrap plywood to allow me to use the workbench with my Delta planer and infeed/outfeed tables, my miter saw (although that will just fit on the top of the workbench without a top. The possibilities are endless.
Post time: Jul-07-2017